'I want people to look at me with dignity'

Four More Shots Please!' star Sayani Gupta, who entered the Bollywood industry by paving a path of her own, speaks about her work and the importance of the 'female gaze' in films.

She says, "I want people to know my work and look at me with dignity."

"I think the narratives of our shows and films need to change. Are not we tired of seeing unrealistic heroes on the screen? Incidentally, I read a quote that said, 'You do not see as many fantastic men in real life as you see onscreen and you never see as many fantastic women onscreen as you see in real life.' And that was so true," states the actor.

The actor adds, "The constant hetero-normative narrative that has been fed to us through popular cinema, where the unimaginable glorious hero comes to save everyone, is problematic. The women are given the side dish. They are constantly playing the subversions or a subdivision of a narrative which, again, is extremely problematic. So, we as women must do stuff for ourselves and I think the female gaze in helping change the narrative."

"I do independent films where I play the protagonist and at the same time, I play relatively smaller parts in big films, both with equal zest. However, I do hope to get big parts in big films. As long as you have enough to do and you are good at it, you must make something out of it. When I say this, I do not mean you hog the limelight, but do a commendable job and make your presence felt," shares the 'Kaushiki' star.

Speaking on her wish to play a real-life character on-screen, Sayani states, "I wanted to play Shakuntala Devi for the longest time. I never expressed it out loud fearing someone might take the idea. But Anu Menon had already made a film on the maths genius with Vidya Balan in the lead. So that is done now. But I would like to play Maa Sarada Devi in a film someday. I think she was a feminist, visionary and in many ways tutored and helped push human rights, gender movement and the feminist movement."